


The Other Life

by EvilInTheNight



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-22 14:58:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7443544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilInTheNight/pseuds/EvilInTheNight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pietro Maximoff falls into a coma for two years after the Battle of Sokovia. Even Bruce Banner and Helen Cho said they couldn’t do anything about it. Thor shows up with Loki and tells them he is their last hope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably the longest (or most well-planned) story I’ve ever written. It means so much for me and I want it to be the best. I do not ask for much, just comment and tell me what you think about the story. You can even suggest to me what changes you would want to see or what other stories you would want me to write in the future.  
> [Loki is very NOT evil here, and there’s a hint of STUCKY and THORKI. Okay, maybe quite a lot of Thorki.]  
> So here it goes.

Hi.

This is Clint.

Bruce said you should be able to hear me.

Just yesterday you asked me did I see that coming.

No. I didn’t.

When I think about the battle of Sokovia I still think it's a dream.

Now you are lying in a bed because of me, and that's something I can't take.

If you don't wake up...Pietro, I don't know what to do.

I...we all miss you.

 

_~ Two years later ~_

 

Hi, Pietro, it’s me.

Do you know what day it is?

It's the second anniversary of the Battle of Sokovia.

I've got you flowers.

Ok, kidding. Pepper gave them to me and asked me to put them next to your bed.

It has been two years, you quick little bastard.

Still not willing to wake up?

I miss you.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**REALITY**

A loud noise breaks the peaceful quietness.

The Avengers, who were sitting in the common area before, all stands up and look out of the window, their weapons in hand ready for a fight.

In the centre of the lawn there’s a big cloud of dust, two shadows of men appears in the middle, slowly standing up. They couldn’t tell who the two men were in the morning light.

“It’s Thor.” Tony’s face shows up on the television screen. He was in the basement working on an experiment for days. “Don’t tell me he has damaged the lawn again. Pepper will murder me with her heels.”

“Not just one God.” Vision saidys. He takes Wanda’s hand and pushes her protectively behind him. Wanda puts the other hand on her belly as she looks out of the window.

Just two seconds later, Iron Man blasts a hole through the wall and flies into the dining room. “Tony!” Steve frowns as he holds his shield before him, walking up to the front with Natasha on his side. Clint’s arrows are ready to fly.

 

The God of Thunder appears at the door, Mjolnir in one hand, the other taking hold of someone else’s wrist. He is still wearing his signature red cape that makes him look like an actor who walks straight out from a Shakespeare’s play, and the man beside him with his raven hair and green eyes can only be the infamous God of Mischief himself.

 

“My friends in Midgard,” Thor says, his laugh loud as thunder as usual, “I have brought my brother----“

“Laufeyson.” Iron Man snorts, cutting off Thor’s sentence. “Charming. I see that they still treat you like a prince in Asgard.”

“He is Loki Laufeyson?” Scott appears out of nowhere, and Loki raises an eyebrow at the man in the funny helmet, suppressing his urge to chuckle.

 

“It’s been a while, Stark. Don’t you think you should put your prejudice aside?” Loki says as he struggles to free his hand from Thor’s tight grip. He looks around and his emerald eyes linger on Vision, then on Wanda Maximoff for a little bit too long. Wanda shifts uncomfortably at his gaze. “I see that there are some new ones in the collection of Earth’s mightiest heroes.” He smirks, “I do not know computer programs can make the list too.”

“Brother,” Thor says, “No need to be rude. You promised me you will do whatever you can to help.”

“I did. But like I told you, I’m not welcome here.” Loki says.

 “True.” Tony Starks says, “So unless you can convince me there’s something you can help, I suggest you leave in ten seconds.”

“I believe you have an Avenger in a coma?” Loki smirks, his chin slightly lifted with pride as if he just won a war. He glances at everyone in the room, enjoying their shocked expressions.

Clint is the first one to lay down his weapons. Wanda lets out a desperate cry as she pushes her husband aside and steps forward.

“You can help Pietro?” She asks. Wanda is 6 months pregnant now, with her disproportionally large belly makes her looks even thinner.

Loki takes her hand and kisses the back of it, the evil gleam in his eyes reminds Wanda of a snake: “That’s what my brother believes.”


	3. Chapter 3

**REALITY**

“A few months ago my brother found me and told me his adventures on Earth.” Loki sits down beside the dining table, “He mentioned Stark discovering the Mind Stone, and one of his friends, Pietro Maximoff fell into a coma after he took a dozen bullets for Hawkeye. I found this highly amusing. Isn’t he supposed to be…fast?” He pauses, noticing Clint clenching and unclenching his fists as anger boils inside him. “Anyway. My idiot of a brother believes that Hela holds his soul. We traveled to the realm of Death, only to be told that his soul is still wandering in between. He is still not my daughter’s possession. However, I do know a spell that may be able to bring him back.”  
“Loki is the best sorcerer of the nine realms.” Thor says with a proud look on his face, and his brother couldn’t help but rolls his eyes.  
“I have tried everything I can, but if you do have a way, do enlighten us.” Wanda sighs as she rubs her temples. It has been two years, and all the magic she knows doesn’t work on Pietro.  
“It is one of the oldest spells in Asgard. What it can do is limited, but at the same time very powerful. Your people may call it time-travel.” Loki takes a sip of tea and narrows his eyes, but doesn’t comment on the beverage.  
Tony is the first to raise a question. “I’m no witch, but wouldn’t this affect the whole time-space continuum thing?”  
“True, Stark. You cannot change the original time line. But I can create a temporary alternate timeline, one that wouldn't cross with the original timeline, where someone can do whatever they want. Nothing will be changed in the original timeline. Once the time is up, everything will be back in its place, except for their...feelings.”

“And how would that help bringing Pietro back?” Steve asks.  
“That, I believe, can be explained by the doctor.” Loki says as he turns his head to Bruce Banner.  
“I have discussed with Helen over and over about this. Technically Pietro could wake up anytime. His body is functioning perfectly and all his wounds have healed. The only thing that is keeping him in a coma is probably because he doesn’t want to wake up. What he needs is a force to drive him to wake up. If what Loki said was true----“ “Is,” Loki interrupts. Bruce nods impatiently, “If someone goes back in time and changes his view towards life, perhaps he can wake up.”  
“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Loki smiles. “If someone can be sent back in time, and let me say it in a more poetic way, plant the seed of hope in his head, he may be able to wake up on his own.”  
“You cannot guarantee that this will work.” Natasha says. Loki nods, “It depends on Pietro Maximoff, of course.”

“Enough of all these bullshit,” Tony says, “You are not here to help, at least not without a price. What are you after?”  
“Stark, always to the point.” Loki says, “To develop technology, you need money. To perform a spell, I need power. With my scepter, I can access the power of the tesseract and create the alternate timeline. ”  
“You are not getting your hands on them.” Tony growls. “The scepter and one of the infinity stones, in exchange of a spell that might not even work?”  
“I cannot perform the spell on my own. Perhaps, if Frigga is still alive…I need a source of power, and I already had my hands on the tesseract.” Loki says.  
“You give it to him? Without even informing any of us?” Tony looks at Thor, who shrugs as if it was no big deal. “It is the only way to save Pietro, according to Loki.”  
“No. This is not happening.” Tony turns to Steve, hoping that he would say something, but Steve just sits there in silence.  
“This is the worst case scenario already.” Wanda turns and looks at Tony Stark. “My parents died because of you. Give Pietro a chance, please.”  
“I promise I will return them both once the spell is finished.” Loki says, sounding a little too sincere. This is the most powerful thing about Loki, Clint thinks, not his spells, but how he had fool them all and is going to do it again. They would all fall without knowing if this was a trap. Tony murmurs something like “Yeah, sure, cuz the Prince of Lies is the most honest of them all.”  
“This is Pietro’s only hope.” Clint says. He has been quiet the whole time.  
“I will go.” Wanda stands up. “If this is the only chance of my brother waking up, I have to try.”  
“A pregnant lady? No, no…” Loki shakes his head, “You are putting both you and your daughters' life at risk. Can you deal with seeing your brother’s death again?”  
“He’s right.” Natasha says. She has been taking care of Wanda as if the children in her womb were her own. “Think about your girls.”  
“It’s okay, Wanda.” Clint puts a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “I will go.” He looks at Loki as he says firmly.  
“Ahhhh, Barton, how sweet of you.” Loki says in a mocking tone, “One of the weakest minds in the room.”  
“I believe you.” Wanda says to Clint. She knows that he has a history of being controlled by Loki, yet he is also the only Avengers who have defeated her.  
“I owe him.” Clint says to Wanda. He turns to Steve, waiting for the Captain to give his permission.  
“Give Loki what he needs.” Steve says, and this time Tony doesn’t argue, just sighs as he walks away. “Wanda, I want you to keep an eye on Loki. Make sure he returns the scepter.” He looks around the room, "Any questions?"

Scott raises his hand.  
“So…is anyone going to tell me who is Pietro?”


	4. Chapter 4

**REALITY**

"How do you feel?" Tony asks while keeping an eye on Clint's signs of life. The numbers are fine, but Tony couldn't help but feel that something must be wrong.

“Feel like I am having last stage cancer rather than being sent back in time.” Clint lies on the bed, with the avengers surrounding him. Tony kind of makes a big deal about it and has all those instruments connected to him to monitor his bodily functions. 

 

“If anything goes wrong I will know,” Tony says, “But I can’t guarantee that we can make Loki stops. This is too much of a risk, Clint.”

“It is enough.” Clint says. “He wouldn’t be able to get away with all of us here, I don’t think he would risk that.”

“He is still dangerous.” Wanda says. “I am not sure I can hold him down. His magic comes from a much older place.”

“Then let’s hope I get the job done fast.” Clint smiles. He doesn’t want Wanda to worry about him. That girl already has too much on her shoulders.

 

“Is the goodbye party over?” Loki says. He has been sitting at the corner of the room with his legs crossed. “My time is much more valuable than you humans.”

 

The avengers all move to the sides, with Wanda and Thor on either side of the bed, ready to take Loki down if anything happened. Loki points his scepter at Clint and starts reciting something like a spell in a foreign language.

 

The process is long and at one point of the time they all think that the spell has failed, that even Loki’s magic is not strong enough to perform it. Almost right after they lose hope Loki collapses. Thor catches him immediately, and he hears his brother saying in a weak but proud voice, “It’s done.”

 

The avengers suddenly relax, some even give each other high fives at the back of the room.

 

The celebration doesn't last too long. In fact, Loki as the most infamous god, brings bad news immediately.

 

"Oh, but did I mention that he will not remember the events in this timeline?"

Loki says, and the room is dead silence again.

"Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t wipe his memories. He just doesn’t remember everything that happens after the point I sent him, meaning your first visit to Sokovia. He wouldn’t remember Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, or Ultron, or Vision."

 

"No," Tony murmurs, "This is not the deal we made."

 

"The only thing he carries to the alternate universe, and the only thing he can change there is emotions." Loki says. "I thought you would be clever enough to know. After all, it is a branch in the timeline. You are not walking the same road, but who cares? It still leads to Rome."

 

"So he would not know how to save Pietro in this timeline. And even if he did, Pietro still might not wake up." Steve concludes. "What is this all for?"

 

"Have some faith in your friend." Loki says. He doesn't sound like he is teasing. "He has deeper feelings for the boy then you all know. If there's anyone in the room who could have brought Pietro Maximoff back, it is Clint Barton."


	5. Chapter 5

_Alternate Universe_

Clint has been having the weird feeling the moment he wakes up.  
It is like he has something important to do but he has forgotten what it is.  
Nat teases him, saying that he probably just forgets that they are heading to Sokovia today.  
But Clint knows it is not the mission that he has forgotten. It is something that matters even more... as if his whole existence depends on that.

 

 

It keeps bugging Clint, all the way to Sokovia, even after he starts fighting the guards there. Not concentrating on his enemy in a fight can be fatal. Clint uses the trees as shields to hide himself from his enemies, but he is able to deliever the deadly shots to his enemies. This is the advantage of fighting long-distance instead of hand-to-hand: Clint knows how to use the landscape to his own advantage.

 

 

He has everything under control: his arrows never miss, the few remaining targets are just a matter a matter of time to be taken out. At least Clint thinks thats the way it is, until he sends an arrow to a bunker but it doesnt explode like he has expected.

 

 

It takes Clint a second to realize he must have missed it. He looks out in disbelief, remember a flash of blue right after he sends his arrow.

 

 

Blood is rushing in Clint's veins. Whatever this thing is, it's ability is like the antidote to Clint's. It has caught Clint's arrow. The thing's speed is out of this world Clint has not seen anything like that. Fighting it would be hard, but Clint is feeling more anticipation than fear.

 

 

 

He loads another arrow, but before he can aim at his enemy something bumped into him, making him falls to the ground. The size and the weight feels like human, but the speed…Clint has lost the fight before it even started.

 

As Clint looks up he sees the one who knocked him down, surprised to find that he is just a boy. He couldn’t be more than 20 years old, wearing a blue jacket, his hair a platinum blond like the snow.

 

“You didn’t see that coming?” The boy says with child-like happiness in his tone, as if this is not a battle but just a prank. The corner of his mouth lifts slightly, and he disappears again.

 

Clint stands up again, his heart pounding loudly, head still slightly dizzy from the collision.

_...You didn’t see that coming…_

_…You didn’t…_

But he did, didn’t he?

 

Clint remembers the feeling that has been lingering the whole day. The boy shows up and suddenly it fits. It has to be something to do with the boy.

And his face…Clint knows it. It is like a deja vu, a delusion telling Clint that he knows the boy, but he couldn’t have seen him before today.

The boy wasn’t trying to hurt him. He could have killed Clint in a split second but yet he just left. Why?

 

Diving deep into his own thoughts, Clint has forgotten about the bunker. It shoots and Clint gasps in pain, knowing that it has ripped through the side of his waist.

 

His last thought was Natasha shouting in his earpiece, “Clint!”

 

= = = =

 

Clint reaching to the side of his waist, feeling the new skin and muscle. Helen Cho has fixed him: he himself couldn’t even tell the difference.

“Feeling better?” Natasha walks into the medical bay with a Stark pad on her hand.

“Feeling like I could do Sokovia all over again.” Clint smiles.

Natasha sits by the bed, passing the pad to Clint. “Thought you would like to know who knocked you down.”

Clint reads the files carefully. “Pietro Maximoff,” he says, looking at the photo of the boy. “He is a mutant?”

“Hints are leading to Magneto and his gang, but Steve thinks it is Hydra who is behind this.” Natasha says. “The twins are really something else. Tony is trying to get in touch with Xavier…"

“Twins?” Clint asks, swiping to the next file. A girl with long brown hair and glassy eyes named Wanda Maximoff is shown.

“Yes, Steve has met her and her powers are pretty impressive.”

“Mind control and reading?” Clint says to himself. Could it be her who is playing tricks to his mind?

 

He closes his eyes and puts down the pad. Clint doesn’t just feel familiar with the boy. He feels like he knows him, and in a positive way. He wouldn’t call it trust, but it is dangerously close.

 

“Pietro Maximoff.” He says the name again, as if he has said his name a thousand times already. “Who are you..."

 

= = = = 

 

**REALITY**

 

“I must say I can never understand what you did.” Steve says to the Prince of Lies.

“Well, it is the best that I can do.” Loki shrugs. His green eyes seem to glow in the dark.

“Then you are just letting history repeats itself.”

Loki chuckles, as if he couldn’t believe that Steve Rogers, of all people, doesn’t understand. “That boy died for Barton, right? Barton has a soft heart. He would rip it out for the kid if he’s got a chance. This is the feeling he will carry to the other timeline.”

“But it still won’t make any changes to our timeline.” Steve says.

“No, it wouldn’t change the past. But the future is already changing.” Loki says. He stares at the night sky through the window, as if he can see Asgard by doing so.

Then he looks at Steve, who is still frowning with disapproval, Loki smiles. He always knows how to convince people, like how he gets his hands on the sceptre and tesseract. He will have Steve Rogers on his side in no time.

 

“If you had a chance to tell Barnes, even though he would still fall of the cliff, and his memory would still be removed by H.Y.D.R.A, would you say it?”

Steve frowns. He shouldn’t answer Loki, Steve knows, but he just had to say it out loud, to prove that he really would do so for Bucky.

“Yes.”


End file.
